Time Warner Cable suspends Showtime services nationwide

by jmaloni

Press release

Fri, Aug 2nd 2013 10:35 pm

For
first time in network history, Showtime is dropped

CBS
released the following statement Friday:

"Showtime
Networks' customers nationwide have had their services disrupted by
Time Warner Cable today, when for the first time in Showtime history,
a distributor has chosen to remove the network's programming -
despite the network's authorization to allow carriage while
negotiations continue. Our customers chose to subscribe to Showtime,
and Time Warner Cable in turn chose to pull our service from the
subscribers we both serve. Attempts to reach an extension on
negotiations were denied by Time Warner Cable, resulting in Showtime
going dark in major markets.

"The
service interruption is not only completely unnecessary, but totally
punitive to our subscribers, and will impact and inconvenience
millions of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subscribers
in major markets across the country. Major markets affected include
New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, Tampa, Minneapolis,
Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, San Diego, Columbus,
Cincinnati, Kansas City, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Austin and Detroit,
among many others (including Western New York).

"Showtime
has been working in good faith with Time Warner Cable to work out a
contract, and is deeply disappointed with Time Warner Cable's
decision to pull Showtime channels. Unfortunately, Time Warner Cable
and Bright House Networks subscribers will be denied access to new
episodes of the climactic eighth and final season of 'Dexter,' and
the most popular freshman series the network has ever had, 'Ray
Donovan.' Additionally, subscribers will also miss the opportunity to
catch up on past seasons of 'Homeland' before the series' fall debut,
new episodes of 'Web Therapy' and countless movies, specials and
documentaries.

"Showtime
has successfully negotiated a number of deals with all of the other
major distributors, including Comcast, DirecTV, Cox, DISH, Verizon
FiOS, Cablevision and AT&T U-Verse, among others. Time Warner
Cable has taken nearly 50 channels off the air in just the past five
years in disputes such as the one involving CBS and Showtime now.

"We
hope and believe this period of darkness will be short, and we can
all get back to the business of providing award-winning original
series, hit movies, specials, provocative documentaries, and our
hard-hitting sports programming to the Time Warner Cable and Bright
House Networks customers we both serve. We know our subscribers value
their Showtime programming, so we encourage them to call Time Warner
Cable directly at 1-888-TW-CABLE and Bright House Networks at
1-855-222-0102 to ask that they restore our services. Time Warner
Cable and Bright House Networks customers who wish to continue their
Showtime subscription, should go to www.SHO.com/TimeWarnerCable
for a list of television providers that currently offer Showtime. We
assure our subscribers that we are doing everything we can to restore
their Showtime services.

"Showtime
Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation,
owns and operates the premium television networks Showtime, The Movie
Channel and FLIX, as well as the multiplex channels Showtime 2,
Showtime Showcase, Showtime Extreme, Showtime Beyond, Showtime NEXT,
Showtime Women, Showtime Family Zone and The Movie Channel XTRA. SNI
also offers Showtime HD, The Movie Channel HD, Showtime On Demand,
FLIX On Demand and The Movie Channel On Demand, and the network's
authentication service Showtime Anytime. SNI also manages Smithsonian
Networks, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian
Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel. All SNI feeds provide
enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes
sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a
pay-per-view basis through Showtime PPV."